FC Barcelona Lassa was one of the surprises of the 2017-18 season, and not in a good way. The Spanish powerhouse suffered its second straight subpar season in the competition and, again, failed to make the playoffs at the end of the regular season. Despite strong play from big man Kevin Seraphin, the new project led by Coach Sito Alonso started with a 2-7 record. After Seraphin was lost to injury midway through the season, Thomas Heurtel and Ante Tomic took the reins. Despite big wins against CSKA Moscow, Olympiacos Piraeus and Panathinaikos Athens, things did not look promising and with a 7-15 record, Alonso was dismissed in favor of veteran Svetislav Pesic, the coach who had led Barca to its first EuroLeague title in 2003. Pesic's arrival shook things up a bit and the team looked more consistent, but then another pillar, Adam Hanga, fell victim to injury and the team finished the regular season with an 11-19 record for 13th place. Barcelona tasted success when it edged Real Madrid for the Spanish King's Cup, but in the Spanish League playoffs it reached the semifinals before falling to KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz 3-1.

FC Barcelona is one of the biggest and most-respected sporting clubs in the world, and its basketball section has been important to its legacy. The club began its haul of trophies in the 1940s, a decade that saw it lift the Copa del Rey five times. Barcelona's next era of greatness came in the 1980s, led by Nacho Solozabal, Chicho Sibilio and Juan Antonio "Epi" San Epifanio. Barcelona reached the 1984 EuroLeague final before falling to Rome and then won the Saporta Cup in both 1985 and 1986 plus the Korac Cup the following season. Despite its successes, Barcelona still longed for EuroLeague glory. The club added Audie Norris and made it to three straight EuroLeague Final Fours from 1989 to 1991, but lost to eventual champion Split each time – including twice in the championship game. Barcelona returned three more times to the Final Four in the 1990s alone, but came up short each time. In 1999, Barcelona won a second Korac Cup, but 2000 brought with it more Final Four disappointment. That all changed in 2003 when, with the city hosting the Final Four at Palau Sant Jordi, the great Dejan Bodiroga teamed with Gregor Fucka, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Juan Carlos Navarro under Coach Svetislav Pesic to carry Barca past Benetton Treviso for its first EuroLeague crown. Barcelona returned to the Final Four again in 2006 and won the Copa del Rey in 2007. In the 2008-09 season, with Xavi Pascual as head coach, Barcelona won yet another Spanish League title and returned to the Final Four, but lost to CSKA Moscow. The 2009-10 season was a memorable one for Barcelona as the likes of Navarro, Ricky Rubio, Erazem Lorbek and Pete Mickeal helped put the team among the greatest EuroLeague champions ever with an incredible 20-2 record. Panathinaikos Athens stopped Barcelona in the 2011 playoffs and prevented the club from returning to a Palau Sant Jordi Final Four. Olympiacos Piraeus knocked Barca out in the 2012 Final Four in Istanbul and Real Madrid stood in the club's way in the 2013 and 2014 EuroLeague semifinals. Even so, Barcelona won the Spanish League and Cup double in 2011, another league trophy in 2012, Cup in 2013 and Spanish championship in 2014. Barcelona was one win away from making it to the 2016 Final Four after leading 1-2 in its best-of-five playoffs series against Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, but did not get the ticket to Berlin. Nevertheless, Barcelona has been to the Final Four 14 times since 1988. After adding another Copa Del Rey last season, Barcelona is looking to challenge for every title available and recapture its glory this season.